Using Naltrexone

[Blakelyneal]

Does anybody have any explanation for why low does Naltrexone would be a good treatment for cancer, or not.

 

any ideas?

[joshuam168]

Why Naltrexone? It's a drug used for alcoholism or opioid addiction. It blocks opioid receptors so that the opiates may not attach. Why did you choose naltrexone?

[PhDwannabe]

Why Naltrexone? It's a drug used for alcoholism or opioid addiction. It blocks opioid receptors so that the opiates may not attach. Why did you choose naltrexone?

 

Sure, it is a drug for that--it's an opioid antagonist. Remember, though, that drugs often have widely varying effects, and new uses appear which don't (to a layperson) necessarily seem to be connected. Valproic acid (Depakote, most commonly) is often cited as an example: developed as an anticonvulsant, it's still widely used to treat epilepsy. However, it was also later found to be effective in treating migraine headaches, as well as bipolar disorder.

 

Naltrexone also has a bunch of uses being currently investigated--it may have some activity against some inflammatory bowel diseases, and maybe maybe maybe some cancers or multiple sclerosis. These investigations typically involve "low dose naltrexone." As far as I know, no big clinical trials have really been done, and so far samples have been very small. In the age of the internet, people more quickly than ever find out about small studies, producing low-powered results that haven't undergone extensive scientific vetting. So there are a million things out there like low dose naltrexone which have a lot of peoples' hopes up. So the answer to the original question is: as far as I'm aware--given the state of literature on the topic--nobody can really say they know if naltrexone at any dose is an effective treatment for cancer, nor can they really speak to why it is or isn't. The science just hasn't been done yet.

 

If you're asking about it with respect to your personal health or that of a loved one, there are rules that always apply: ask your doctor. If you doctor hasn't heard about it, ask him to look it up. Most of all, beware your own excitement. We should doubt ourselves most strongly when we really desire that something should be true. We're typically a lot better at remembering all of those fun stories which support our beliefs than the sad cases which don't.

 

 

Cheers,

DJ